Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Increased by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,701 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 6,426 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.3% of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $68,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $386.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $409.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $419.85. The company has a market cap of $2.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.